Who Are We ? Company History of Parkinsons Books of Southport

BOOKSELLERS NATURALISTS & ANTIQUARIANS FOURTH GENERATION OF FAMILY EXPERTISE 359-363 LORD STREET, SOUTHPORT, LANCS. [JUST TWO DOORS FROM WATERSTONES] ♦ NOT JUST ANY OLD BOOKSHOP ♦

♦ ♦ Company History ♦ Email Address ♦♦'Phone 01704-547016 ♦ ♦

Page updated Tuesday 7th. August 2012.
NOW REBUILDING ENTIRE WEBSITE!.

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Who Are We ?
Company History

How did we come to run a shop with such a varied stock? Twenty five years ago, almost to the day, Parkinson Books and The Old Tropical Shell Shop were trading as separate companies in the same alleyway. The former was in a fourth generation tradition and the latter founded just before W.W.I. Landlord's redevelopment forced both companies out but in the process the former alone received compensation and amicably absorbed the good will of the latter. We purchased the freehold of a mirror-image building in the same alleyway, so older people believing that they're making a nostalgic return to the old shell shop find themselves in a puzzling Alice Through The Looking Glass world.

As bookdealers with qualifications and interests in science & natural history, it was only a matter of days before we added to the shells a selection of fossil and mineral specimens. Hobbies, already reflected in the book-dealing, prompted the introduction of coins, then prehistoric, classical and mediaeval artefacts. Antiques and a few ethnographic items soon followed. CDs were, of course, always a natural adjunct to books. In the meantime we had expanded into three floors of the present premises, with a fourth floor storeroom and a large covered ginnel and yard for cheaper shells and books.

Almost simultaneous with the expansion we began to withdraw from the booksearch service which we had long advertised in the quality Sunday newspapers as KAP. The earlier success of the booksearch venture aided other aspects of the business in the short-term but in the long-term it was eroded by competition from the likes of Waterstones and internet portal sites. Paradoxically the internet is now one of our great trading strengths.

Tony Parkinson

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THANK YOU FOR READING THROUGH TODAY'S REVISION OF THIS PAGE
HEREWITH OUR CLICKS & MORTAR JOTTINGS FOR THE DAY
This page was freshly revised & updated on Tuesday 7th. August 2012.
NOW REBUILDING ENTIRE WEBSITE!.
The family has an incorrigible addiction to antiques and collectibles fairs. Joan bought a nice part-set of Japanese woodblock prints and I bought an 'inverted microscope'. The former turned out to be Utagawa Yoshiiku's illustrations to the Taiheiki Eiyuden, as kindly identified by our cultivated Japanese neughbour, Kim. The latter fell into the impulse purchases category; now I'll be obsessed with finding a way to use it. Paul, the marvellous picture-framer at C&C Gifts and Framing (link yet to be added), put them within two layers of glass with black edging, to achieve a deservedly dramatic effect.
As compared with this time last week, the outside bargain section is down to about a quarter strength. Someone must have done really well with ebay re-selling. What a rum selection it was, books on Eu law, geographies in Russian, undergraduate surgery swot books, the metaphysical poets, battered pocket bibles, a Finnish-into-German dictionary and a heap of Readers Digest condensed books.
In the shop, quartz crystal clusters and Madagascan ammonites sold exceedingly well to passing American torists this morning. A couple of Canadians came in, but without parting with their money. One book on medical entomology will be winging its merry way to the U.S.A.
The bargain ginnel was topped up over the weekend with our "50 pence or five for �2" bargains. This was probably the best sales-run ever on ginnel stock. Over the Saturday and Sunday very many books were bought in �10 to �30 batches. This has continued down to Tuesday afternoon. There were a fair few in uniform bindings, which probably are now in use as decor items, but many of the more unusual technical items must now be on Ebay. Lots of law books went this morning.
'Just had a nice cappucino with chocolate and cinammon. The blood sugar might prompt me to tidy the transport section, which has looked a right dog's dinner since yesterday afternoon.

We have now a new display case for jewellery in the shop porch, the first of four. Semi-precious stones in settings have always been a good sales line; we intend to build up this stock in the middle price range over the next couple of months. Facebook "likers" have shown a good deal of hyperspace/virtual interest in it. 'Trust some will be in the shop fairly soon. ... Taken From Today's Home Page Jottings.